Draft Strategy Tips for Navigating 2025 Fantasy WNBA Busts
Every year, the WNBA features plenty of players who step up for their teams -- and fantasy managers -- to make an impact in one of the most exclusive leagues in professional sports. While there are plenty of fantasy WNBA sleepers and fantasy WNBA breakout candidates to consider in this year's drafts, there are also some players who may underperform their expectations for the season. For most players who have decreased production in the WNBA, this isn't an indictment on their skill set. Rather, the league allows for just 156 players on active rosters (up from 144 players now that the Valkyries have become the 13th franchise), and opportunities can be difficult to come by, even for some incredibly talented players.
Fantasy managers preparing for drafts can see where players landed among RotoWire's staff in our fantasy WNBA mock draft. The selections were partially based on RotoWire's fantasy WNBA rankings and fantasy WNBA projections. Those looking for in-depth strategy tips can also use RotoWire's Fantasy WNBA Draft Guide ahead of the regular season and see how players stack up in our fantasy WNBA tiered rankings.
Ezi Magbegor's Fantasy Outlook Amid Seattle Storm Competition
Leading up to the 2024 season, Ezi Magbegor was considered one of the top center options in the WNBA after she averaged 13.8 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.9 blocks in 32.6 minutes per game during the 2023 campaign. She stepped up for a rebuilding Seattle team that had just lost Breanna Stewart to the Liberty. The Storm revamped their roster ahead of the 2024 season by adding Nneka Ogwumike and Skylar Diggins, but Magbegor remained relatively productive, averaging 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 30.7 minutes per game while serving exclusively as a starter. However, Magbegor's results declined over the second half of the season after the Storm brought back Gabby Williams. Over Magbegor's final nine appearances of the regular season, she averaged just 8.9 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in 27.1 minutes per game. That still produced decent fantasy results, but it was production more in line with a mid-round pick as opposed to an early-round pick.
The Storm lost guard Jewell Loyd during the offseason, which should open up some scoring opportunities, but the team designated Williams as a core player during the offseason, signaling just how important she is to the franchise. The team also drafted Dominique Malonga with the No. 2 pick in this year's draft, and both Williams and Malonga have indicated that they don't plan to participate in EuroBasket this summer. Magbegor should still be a decent contributor, but she may have trouble living up to her ADP this season, especially since Williams doesn't plan to participate in EuroBasket this summer.
Satou Sabally's Injury Concerns for the 2025 Fantasy WNBA Season
Satou Sabally is one of the most efficient players in the WNBA, but her main drawback throughout her career has been her availability. She's played over 17 games in a season just once over her first five years in the WNBA. She was dominant over her last two years with the Wings, averaging 18.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.6 steals in 33.6 minutes per game. Sabally played 38 games in 2023, making her one of the top fantasy options that year, but she missed the first half of last season due to an injury, which significantly limited her fantasy outlook.
The 27-year-old should be healthy for the start of the 2025 season, her first year in Phoenix. The Mercury retooled their roster during the offseason by acquiring Sabally and Alyssa Thomas to play alongside Kahleah Copper, but Sabally has the talent to carve out a solid role, even while playing with multiple superstars. However, Sabally could choose to play for France in EuroBasket this summer, and she still carries some injury risk, especially as the WNBA prepares for an expanded 44-game season. She lands at No. 21 in RotoWire's rankings for this season, and she'll likely have no trouble meeting or exceeding those expectations if she's available for most of the year. However, Sabally doesn't have a strong track record of availability in the WNBA, and she has several risk factors heading into 2025.
Assessing Shakira Austin's Fantasy Value and Injury Risks
Like Satou Sabally, Shakira Austin is an elite per-minute contributor who has missed significant time due to injuries over the past few years. Austin was limited to a career-low 12 regular-season appearances last year, but she averaged 11.8 points and 6.8 rebounds despite playing just 19.9 minutes per game. Even though she was on a minutes restriction for most of the year, she put forth plenty of strong fantasy stat lines when on the court.
Early training camp reports on Austin suggested that she was fully healthy, but the 24-year-old missed both of Washington's preseason games due to a right leg injury. Head coach Sydney Johnson called the injury a "strength issue" last Tuesday but said that the center wasn't yet ready for game action. Austin has remained limited in practice this week, which puts her status for Friday's regular-season opener against the Dream into question. Given Austin's limited availability over the past few years, I'm fading her in my drafts this season since she's already dealing with an injury.
Natasha Mack's Projected Role in a Deep Mercury Lineup
After spending several years away from the WNBA, Natasha Mack signed a training camp contract with the Mercury ahead of the 2024 season and took on a starting role to begin the year since Brittney Griner was sidelined due to an injury. Mack was decently productive as a starter, averaging 4.8 points and 6.9 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game. She was much less productive off the bench, averaging 3.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 12.8 minutes per game. The Mercury lost Griner during the offseason but added Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally.
Mack will likely begin the 2025 campaign as a starter, and she proved last season that she can deliver serviceable production in that role. However, when the team is fully healthy, she'll likely be the No. 4 option, at best, behind Thomas, Sabally and Kahleah Copper. Mack's ADP for this season puts her in the mid-to-late rounds of fantasy drafts. I don't mind her as a late-round pick, but I have some reservations about her as a mid-round option. One of the biggest strategy tips that I offer in my draft guide is that my preference is to leave the first three rounds of drafts with at least two frontcourt players and one guard, given the makeup of rosters on ESPN. I think that the guards available around Mack have considerably more upside, so this provides additional motivation to focus on frontcourt players early in drafts to provide positional flexibility later on.
